UCC CONDEMNS SIGNING OF “UNCONSTITUTIONAL LANGUAGE LAW”

OTTAWA – August 10, 2012 – The Ukrainian Canadian Congress expressed its dismay at yesterday’s signing into law by Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych of making the Russian language an official language in parts of Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian Canadian Congress considers the Draft Law onPrinciples of the State Language Policy to be a significant breach of the Constitution of Ukraine and a significant threat to the survival of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine,” stated Ukrainian Canadian Congress National President Paul Grod.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) denounced the signature of the law by President Yanukovych as a regressive step that will serve to harm the Ukrainian language and create further civil and political unrest in Ukraine.

“Ukraine needs to come together as a nation – as one people,” stated Grod. “Unfortunately, the Verkhovna Rada and the President continue to pass legislation which creates further disunity, upheaval and violence in Ukraine. We expect that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine will have the moral fortitude and the political independence to strike down this law as unconstitutional.”

“The Ukrainian Canadian Congress and Ukrainian community have worked hard to express our concerns regarding this law. We wrote to President Yanukovych and to Speaker Lytvyn hoping that the Ukrainian community’s concerns would be heard,” stated Grod. “We are gravely disappointed in the signing of this law and believe that this law has been brought forth for political and electoral reasons without concern for the Ukrainian language or the Ukrainian nation.”

The Congress is not alone in opposing the language legislation. Many NGOs such as the Ukrainian World Congress together with international and domestic experts including, the Legal Advisor to President Yanukovych, Maryna Stavniychuk, have stated that provisions in the law are unconstitutional. For more information on Ms. Stavniychuk’s memo expressing her opinion click here.

As the second largest Disapora in the world, the Ukrainian Canadian community has and continues to proudly cherish the Ukrainian language, culture and history for over 120 years. Five generations of Ukrainian Canadians proudly read, write and sing in Ukrainian. We hope that one day the people of Ukraine will love the Ukrainian language as does its Diaspora.